Building a New Future: The Role of Foundations in Addressing Inequality

Rob Reich, professor of political science at Stanford University and faculty co-director of Stanford PACS, joins Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, for a dynamic conversation about how foundations are evolving to address inequality and advance social justice.

In his recent call for a new Gospel of Wealth in the 21st century, Walker has argued that inequality is coded into just about every one of our social ills. This idea reflects the Ford Foundation’s ongoing strategic shift—called “FordForward”— which directs the institution’s grant making toward combating the drivers of inequality. But can foundations, which are themselves the product of marketplace excess, be a vehicle to remedy inequality? Together, Reich and Walker discuss how philanthropies like the Ford Foundation can—and should—address today’s growing inequality and strive to promote lasting social change.